A long-awaited walkway permitting level step-free access to St Albans United Synagogue has been given a ceremonial opening (May 10th, 2026) following the shul’s AGM.
The ribbon was cut by SAUS member Jacquie Bowman, currently suffering from motor neurone disease and now confined to a wheelchair, with the aid of her husband Brian. Until around a year ago, she was able – just – to negotiate the steep steps to the front entrance of the synagogue but has for some time now not been able to attend shul, either for services or social events. Accompanied to the ceremony by her son, Russell, daughter-in-law, Emma, grandchildren Reece and Millie, and other family members, “what a treat it was,” she declared, “to be able to get out and to see so many of my old shul friends. I had the best time and felt so loved.”
“We are delighted that now at last we are able to open up a world of possibilities for our elderly, infirm or disabled members,” says SAUS Chair, Elissa Da Costa-Waldman, “not to speak of making life easier for parents of babies and toddlers who want to continue coming to shul as they used to do.”
The new walkway has been constructed as part of a much-needed refurbishment scheme for the 75-year-old building. With its own dedicated entrance and code-controlled gate, it lies behind a new security wall erected right around the shul premises. Another code-controlled gate at the other end of the building allows access to a shallower and easier-to-ascend stairway; not only does it make the approach into the building easier for visitors, both young and old, but if also offers an additional security feature, as the entrance steps are no longer aligned with the main doors to the shul.
The whole scheme has been created to the design and under the supervision of SAUS member and property developer, Geoff Taylor, with the aid of his colleagues in the building industry. Sadly, one casualty has been the Biblical Garden featuring a range of trees and shrubs mentioned in the Bible, which was planted around the shul’s façade in 2001 to celebrate its half-century. “But we do feel that the negative – the loss of the garden,” says Elissa, “is more than offset by its positive outcome: the opening up of the shul to the entire community, without exceptions.”
